Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Receives $4.37 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.37.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UGP. StockNews.com raised Ultrapar Participações from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Itau BBA Securities lowered shares of Ultrapar Participações from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Ultrapar Participações from $5.30 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultrapar Participações

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ultrapar Participações by 254.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,796 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,162 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participações in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. TCG Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participações during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Ultrapar Participações in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in Ultrapar Participações in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 3.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ultrapar Participações Stock Up 2.8 %

Ultrapar Participações stock opened at $5.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.28. Ultrapar Participações has a 1-year low of $2.74 and a 1-year high of $6.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $6.75 billion for the quarter. Ultrapar Participações had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 18.86%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ultrapar Participações will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ultrapar Participações Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.0723 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This is a positive change from Ultrapar Participações’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. Ultrapar Participações’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.11%.

About Ultrapar Participações

Ultrapar Participações SA, through its subsidiaries, operates in the energy and infrastructure business in Brazil. The company distributes liquefied petroleum gas to residential, commercial, and industrial consumers, in addition to renewable electricity and compressed natural gas. It also operates in the distribution and marketing of gasoline, ethanol, diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, natural gas for vehicles, and lubricants; and holds AmPm convenience stores and provides JetOil lubricant services.